Google Play Store policy updated to combat the incentivized ratings, reviews, and installs

Google Play Store policy updated to combat the incentivized ratings, reviews, and installs

Google Play Store ratings and reviews of an app matter a lot for people, and depending upon the amount of the good reviews and ratings that the app gets can make or break it. And, to get an app popular developer’s resort to methods to improve their apps reviews and ratings.

One of these methods is through incentivizing positive reviews by paying money, app credit, etc. To target these kinds of activities Google has recently updated its Developer Program Policies, which they had mentioned in their Android Developers Blog.

Google in this policy update will note only be penalising apps having fake reviews, but also install spamming, where app developers pay users to get more installs of their apps to increase the visibility in the Play Store.

Developers must not attempt to manipulate the placement of any apps in the Store. This includes, but is not limited to, inflating product ratings, reviews, or install counts by illegitimate means, such as fraudulent or incentivized installs, reviews and ratings.

Google’s Android Developer’s Blog

Google here has also said that they will not be penalising apps which get incentivized installs to gain users, instead, they will be penalising the apps that are trying to trick the play store into making their app to get more visibility.

This is good news for Android’s Play Store users, as it would lead to much more genuine reviews and ratings of the apps. Which will thus lead to much higher quality of apps being served to the users which the users which genuinely like.

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